Police community support officer (PCSO)

Please note that we have no further recruitment information.
We are not open for applications and therefore application packs are not available. This will next be reviewed in August 2013.

What we do

Police community support officers or PCSOs are uniformed members of the police family and play a critical role within neighbourhood policing. They provide a high visibility, reassuring presence and help to deter crime and antisocial behaviour in the communities they serve.

PCSOs are community-based and because of their ability to familiarise themselves with the community in which they work, they are extremely well placed to tackle the issues that matter most to schools, local businesses and partner agencies.

PCSOs find themselves tackling a wide range of community issues and often as the first uniformed presence at the scene. On a daily basis, the role of a PCSO may involve:

• high visibility foot patrols
• resolving community problems by working with partner agencies and communities
• gathering community intelligence
• dealing with antisocial behaviour
• preserving crime scenes
• attending court as a witness

What powers do PCSOs have?

PCSOs do not have the same powers as a police officer, yet they are a visible presence and an effective crime deterrent, especially with regard to antisocial behaviour.

As well as being able to issue fixed penalty tickets for minor anti-social behaviour, PCSOs can also demand the name and address of a person acting in an anti-social manner.

Other PCSO powers include being able to confiscate alcohol being consumed in a public place, confiscate tobacco from young people, conduct road checks on vehicles, remove abandoned vehicles and seize any vehicles that are being used to potentially harm other people.

What hours do they work?

PCSOs work shifts; they are mostly deployed between the hours of 8am and 10pm, depending on the area in which they work. During their duty they will normally be deployed on foot in allocated areas; they will not patrol in vehicles.

What uniform do they wear?

Our PCSO uniform consists of blue wicking shirt, black protective vest, high visibility waterproof jacket, black trousers and black safety boots. Our PCSOs can be identified by the solid blue band on the uniform hats.